A girl walks along a waterlogged street following heavy rains in Chennai yesterday.
Agencies
New Delhi
At least 55 people died in Tamil Nadu as heavy rains flooded many areas and disrupted road, rail and air traffic, reports said yesterday.
Over the past five days, people have died as a result of electrocution and when walls and houses collapsed, mostly in the coastal district of Cuddalore, according to broadcaster NDTV.
The flooding brought Chennai to a halt as trains and flights were delayed and schools and colleges closed yesterday, the report said.
Incessant rains caused water-logging in several parts of the city and some office-workers had to wade through knee-deep through water to get to work.
Rail tracks were also submerged in various places resulting in train delays. Thousands of people were stranded at the Chennai central station. As many as 26 flights in and out of the city were affected by the wet conditions.
Schools and colleges in Chennai and Kancheepuram, Vellore and Thiruvallur districts were shut yesterday following the forecasts of more rains. Examinations of the Madras University scheduled for yesterday were cancelled.
Footage beamed on television showed cars stuck in several feet of water in the streets of Chennai. The city received 14.9cm of rain overnight. Parts of south Chennai, including St Thomas Mount and Velacherry, witnessed widespread water-logging
The movement of vehicles on arterial roads such as Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road and GST Road in Chennai was affected by the water-logging.
Rubber road barricades were seen floating and buses stopped on the streets due to rising water levels.
Several lakes in Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram, such as the sprawling Madurantakam Eri, received a huge volume of inflows. Water levels of reservoirs that provide drinking water to Chennai – Red Hills, Cholavaram, Chembarambakkam and Poondi – registered an increase. Officials said they now had enough water for three months.
The weather office said the unusually heavy rains were caused by a low-lying depression over the Bay of Bengal near the Tamil Nadu coast.
The rain is forecast to continue until today.
Several areas were hit by power outages and officials said they were experiencing difficulties in carrying out repairs because of the incessant downpour.
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa condoled the rain-related deaths and announced Rs400,000 would be paid to the families of the dead from the Disaster Relief Fund. A delegation of ministers has been rushed to the Cuddalore to oversee relief and rehabilitation works.
Opposition parties have criticised the state government for not completing flood mitigation projects and not taking up enough preventive measures. But Cuddalore district collector S Suresh Kumar said those who died were not in high-risk areas and the administration did evacuate those in danger. He blamed incessant rains and flash floods for the deaths.
